Pegasus Quest
by Oparu
Summary: AU Big Bang. Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard are members of the cast of the successful sci-fi drama, Pegasus: Xtreme. On Elizabeth's last day of shooting, now that her character Dr. Victoria Higginson has been written out, fate takes them far far away.


Elizabeth Weir sank into the sofa in her trailer and closed her eyes. It had been a long shooting day, and she'd been in the control room set for the last six hours, most of it fighting with John's character, Colonel Flanigan. She didn't mind, John was her closest friend on set, and she loved working with him. She looked at her script as it sat waiting for her on the table. Elizabeth didn't need to go over her lines again. She knew them.

Sighing and getting up, she checked her watch. Scene forty-apple was a high tech look over Rodney and Radek's shoulders, and it would take several runs to get just right. She had time. Her head hurt and rubbing her temples wasn't helping. She grabbed a bottle of water and two aspirin and swallowed them both before she picked up the script.

Doctor Victoria Higginson, the character she'd been playing on _Pegasus: Xtreme _for the last three years, was about to be critically injured in the explosion of the stained glass window overlooking the control room. It was one of the biggest stunts of the show so far and they'd been setting it up all day. She was completely safe; they were only blowing air and paper at her so she had no reason to be nervous, but her heart was heavy. She didn't mind losing the job because gigs came and went. It was something else that sat like lead in her chest.

Would she miss playing Victoria? It would be nice to wear a colour other than red to work and it would stretch her more to be on a show with stronger writers. She wasn't going to miss PegX, as it was known to the fans, because the show wasn't what she was thinking about. If she was going to be honest with herself, she wasn't upset about losing the job.

Someone knocked on the door to her trailer and the sound dragged her out of her thoughts.

"Elizabeth?"

It was John and he would let himself in a moment if she didn't say something. "I'm here," she said, reaching for the door to let him in. "Don't you have your own trailer?"

"Yours is more comfy," he said, grinning. John was still in his costume, black t-shirt and BDUs, and his dark hair was perfectly scruffed. He was an attractive man. Being attractive wasn't enough to make him special. Most of her co-workers were extremely good looking. She'd worked with more attractive men. Hell, she'd been naked with more attractive men. There was just something about John Sheppard that had an unreasonable effect on her.

He made himself at home, perching on the edge of her table. He lifted her script and put it aside. "You know these," he said, frowning. "Basic stuff. 'Colonel Flanigan, you're a sexy beast, however will I resist you?'" he finished in a falsetto imitation of Victoria.

It was a terrible impression of her, but that made her laughter that much easier. Elizabeth took a step towards him, patting his shoulder. "He is a sexy beast, isn't he?"

"A sexy beast with crunchy hair," John said, pinging a frozen lock of his hair. "My hair gel is half the makeup budget."

"Maybe if they let it go wild they could afford to keep me on the show," she said bitterly. The harshness of her tone surprised her. She'd been trying to hard to be positive.

John winced and grabbed her shoulder. Pulling her close into a hug, he held her tight. "Hey," he whispered to her. "They're idiots. The fans love you. Rodney loves you, they should keep you around for that alone."

She chuckled, falling into the scent of him and the warmth of his chest. Her eyes hurt, her head still hurt and her heart was sore. It was nothing. Just the end of another job and it shouldn't have been bothering her. Elizabeth held him for another few seconds, then reluctantly let go.

"Let's get this over with." she said with a smile. "You know how much fun it is to watch the stunt puppies do their thing."

"That's the spirit," John promised, ruffling her hair. Elizabeth's was a mass of curls and it bounced back into form after his touch. "You'll be fine. Come on, there's this amazing melon at craft services. You'll love it."

* * *

Scene eighty-four, right before the cliffhanger of the two part episode, was the last scene before lunch. Doctor Victoria Higginson, freshly saved from the brink of death by nanites stolen from the evil replicators, was going on her last mission. The rest of the day's schedule had her running up and down redressed corridors with John and the Replicator extras. Scene one-two-eight was the one she'd been dreading. Victoria, desperate to save Colonel Joe Flanigan, let herself be captured by the Replicators and Joe would watch her be dragged away. It was a gutwrenching final goodbye and the screaming would have her throat raw for days.

Elizabeth sighed, straightening her tactical vest. They weren't up to scene one-two-eight yet. This wasn't it. This was an easy scene, say a line, walk through the gate, break for lunch: she could do this.

John took his mark next to her and nudged her shoulder. "Check it out," he said cheerfully. "New stargate."

"That's right," Rodney said with a smile. "It's a brand new design. Spins on its own, lights up for real, something about a new type of optical fibre--"

John waved off the rest of the explanation. "It lights up and it looks cool."

Much like the brilliant, overbearing scientist he played, Rodney McKay was a brilliant, occasionally overbearing actor with a knack for detail. He always hit his mark and was a pleasure to work with, once she got to know him. She counted him as a friend now and hoped they'd keep in touch after she left the show.

Rodney shook his head at John. "Some of us care how things work," he complained imperiously.

John playfully hid behind Elizabeth. "Maybe some of us care too much," he retorted. "What do you think, 'Lizabeth? Beautiful set piece or marvel of technology?"

"Guys," she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Victoria's the mediator, not me."

"All right," the second AD interrupted politely as she arrived with Teyla from makeup. "Ready? Everyone walks up the 'gate and we go to lunch. Let's do it in one guys."

"Right," Rodney rolled his eyes. "That's us, 'the do it in one' bunch."

"We can do it," Teyla said with a gentle smile. "We are able."

For some reason, Teyla got the best outfits, Elizabeth thought, watching her adjust her long leather coat. Elizabeth got t-shirts and ever-changing pairs of trousers. Teyla wore meticulously crafted vests and colourful alien trousers with slits up to her thighs and leather coats. It did her no good to be jealous, especially now, and her thought passed unremarkably.

"Maybe you are," John argued, still hiding behind Elizabeth as if Rodney was going to smack him. "Don't know about me. Evan's team always does it in one. We never do, why is that?"

Teyla raised an eyebrow. "Evan's 'team' has great cohesion on set."

"And we don't?" John asked dryly. He looked wounded for a moment but broke into a grin. "They're special."

"Does being special lead to greater cohesion?" Teyla asked, her aristocratic eyebrow still raised. Teyla was a unique individual and a brilliant method actress. Rae Chellutrell, her character, was the warrior preistess-like leader of her people. From the first day of shooting, Teyla had arrived on set speaking in Rae's gentle accent and always proper grammar, and left that way. Elizabeth had never heard her break it.

"You are a screw up John," Rodney teased, taking his mark and steadying his expression. He was classically trained at the best university in Canada. Rodney, unlike the rest of them on some days, was a professional and liked them to know it. "Evan's a better actor, they just cast you because--" Rodney paused and stared at John in pretend shock. "Why did they cast you?"

John winced and buried his face in Elizabeth's shoulder. She patted his head carefully. His hair was semi-dangerous when it was gelled into place. His bright hazel eyes met hers and she felt butterflies attack her stomach like a fleet of puddlejumpers. How much was she going to miss this? How big of a hole would John Sheppard leave in her heart when she left this show?

"I'm ready," Rodney said, rolling his eyes at them.

"As am I," Teyla added serenely.

The second AD turned her eyes to John and Elizabeth who fell into place.

"Ready for what?" John whispered, his lips far too close to her ear.

She elbowed him and his eyes went wide. Elizabeth knew there was no real force behind her arm, but John made it look as if she'd stabbed him. The second AD caught their eyes again and John snapped effortlessly into character. John Sheppard disappeared and Joe Flanigan, Colonel in the US Air Force, stood there instead.

"Rolling," said the camera op.

"Sound rolling," echoed the sound man from behind his cart.

"Action," called the first AD.

Elizabeth let Victoria take over. The diplomat was more elegant, more graceful, and Elizabeth was convinced she was taller. She always looked taller in her publicity shots. Victoria was focused and decisive- a leader- someone thousands of young women on the internet and at conventions around the world looked up too--

And Victoria was going to die.

The butterflies in Elizabeth's stomach suddenly had razor sharp wings and she ached for her character. She'd spent too much time breathing life into her, thinking as Victoria did and being her to be able to let her go without grieving for her as she'd grieve a dear friend.

"When we get through," Rodney said in his Dr. David Hewlett voice, "there may be resistance. You should be prepared."

Teyla lifted her weapon and nodded to John. "I am ready, Colonel."

John touched her shoulder gently. He was always adding little moments between them and Elizabeth knew some of the fans loved it. Victoria loved it. In the heart of the character, Elizabeth knew Victoria was madly in love with Colonel Flanigan. It was there in a thousand ways, and she'd had it in her characterisation since the hug in the first season. The production staff hadn't said anything. Elizabeth didn't think they really cared.

Turning his eyes to the 'gate, John nodded. "Let's get them."

In the end, she didn't say the line. It was a stupid line and they could get it on the next take. They walked up the ramp towards the rippling blue circle within the stargate. It really was impressive. Somehow, set dec had been able to rig up something that looked like a stargate that they could walk through, like a 'real' stargate. Technology was moving so fast.

On a normal day, they'd walk up the ramp and the first AD would say cut. Today they had the new 'gate and they were going to walk through the blue light effect before the cut. Teyla went first, then Rodney. The blue light effect was so perfect that Elizabeth couldn't see them on the other side. She marvelled at it and John's hand was on her shoulder again.

"We'll get them," he ad-libbed. He was a terrible one for changing the script but his additions had a brilliance to them that made more than half of them stay in the final take. John was a natural.

Elizabeth took a step forward, sharing Victoria's pounding nervousness as if it was her going to her death. The blue light rippled in front of her, filling the metal ring like the surface of a pond. Elizabeth took a breath and walked into it.

She should have felt nothing. It was a vis effect, nothing more. John was beside her and as soon as they were through, they should have been able to see Rodney and Teyla again. Someone should have called for a cut. Why were they still rolling?

The universe contracted around her, shifting and squishing down to a single point of light. Elizabeth was that point of light. She was everything: time, matter and energy in the same moment. She was going to vomit, if she still had a stomach. Passing out would have saved her, but Elizabeth wasn't sure she could. She was consciousness. She was the universe.

Then she wasn't.

Freezing air attacked her lungs and they felt slashed in her chest. Her stomach rolled once, then again. Elizabeth was halfway between wondering if she still had legs when her knees hit metal. She had half a second, just enough time to see the rest of her castmates falling down around her, before she threw up. Water and half-digested pastry from that morning rushed up her gullet and spilled painfully from her mouth. An ice pick sized point screamed pain in the back of her skull, her fingers stung as if they'd been flash frozen and she still couldn't breathe.

She vomited again. This time nearly choking as her abused chest tried to find air. Elizabeth hurt everywhere and her vision had exploded into a wash of colour. The final debilitating thought that she was having a nervous breakdown assaulted her before she mercifully lost the ability to be aware at all.

* * *

Something tickled his hand. John was asleep. At least, he had been, but now, something was tickling his hand. Tickling wasn't enough of an impetus to wake up, so John tried to push the thought out of his mind. Sleep abandoned him and the tickling sensation grew more important.

Why was it important? What was happening? Why wasn't he just going back to sleep the way he wanted too?

Someone moaned. That someone was definitely not him because he wasn't a woman. John blinked. He had to repeat the motion before his eyes worked. It was dark. He moved his head and his view brightened. He'd been face down on some kind of floor, which explained why it was so dark. John rolled onto his back and colour came back slowly.

Where was he? It wasn't the studio ceiling above him. It was the sky, a rich blue sky with a few clouds. There were trees, tall leafy ones, and beyond them was sky. It was green and blue all around him and sunlight streamed down. He stared at it in wonder. Hadn't he been inside?

"What the hell?" he breathed. Maybe he had a concussion. Maybe there had been an explosion or a fire or a terrorist--

This was real. The earth beneath him was solid and cool. The air smelled different. It wasn't the hot, dusty scent of a studio that filled his aching lungs. He could smell the earth and the trees. The studio was miles from a forest. None of this made sense.

She, whoever she was, moaned again and John sat up. His head exploded into fragments of colour and jagged shards of pain. Groaning, he held it between his hands and fought to still his breathing. It was either the worst hangover he'd ever had or-- He didn't have an or. John didn't have a clue or the foggiest, wildest, most insane idea of what could be happening.

His body worked, eventually. When he moved slowly, the shards of glass inside his head didn't fill his head with agony. John opened his eyes again. It sure as hell wasn't the studio. There were trees all around them and grass beneath them. They- including the three other bodies that lay around him- were outside. He turned his head slowly, trying to figure out who the bodies were.

One was a man, wearing black tactical gear like his own. John's mind worked slowly through that idea and realised it was Rodney. The other man was also face down in the dirt. Teyla lay next to him but she was moving.

"Slowly," John warned her. His voice was a croaking, choked sound. He licked his lips. It tasted awful. His mouth was sour and his teeth felt fuzzy. He gagged, rolling up to his hands and knees and spat. He spat again and rubbed his mouth on the back of his hand.

Teyla was a step ahead of him. When he looked over, she'd pulled a water bottle out of her vest and was rinsing her mouth. She'd thrown up too. She took a moment, closed her eyes and then doggedly crawled towards Rodney. Maybe she could help him; bring him around to whatever dream world this was.

John turned to his left, wanting to spit again, and saw Elizabeth. She was on her side, almost curled into the fetal position. He crawled over to her. Her eyes were closed but when he touched her shoulder, they fluttered. He rubbed her shoulder and her arm, trying to bring her back to consciousness. She moaned again and he realised it had been her who made the sound before.

"Elizabeth," he murmured, stroking her hair. He moved her, pulling her head towards his lap. Elizabeth came easily at first, then she stopped, jerking away. She coughed, then vomited again. There was little left in her stomach and the her body's reflexes sent her into a coughing fit. He held on to her shoulders, wishing he could do more to help.

When she was still, she blinked up at him in surprise. "John?"

"Hey," he said foolishly. "It's okay." It probably wasn't. They were most likely fucked or dead or dreaming but he wasn't going to say that. He smiled down at her. "It's okay."

Elizabeth looked up at him, furrowing her brow. "Is it?"

"Move slowly," he suggested, hoping he could save her from sharing his pounding headache. Remembering Teyla, he patted down his vest. Finding the little metal water bottle costumes had stuffed in there, John pulled it out and unscrewed the lid.

He took a sip and sighed happily. It was sweet and rinsing a swallow through his mouth cleaned his teeth. He spat that to the side, as far from Elizabeth's head as he could.

"Here," John said, "sit up. Try and drink this." He hadn't realised he was solid until Elizabeth leaned against his chest. He'd be steady for her.

Elizabeth took a quick swallow of water and nearly choked on it. He leaned her forward, holding her stomach until she stopped coughing.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Are you injured?" Teyla asked practically. She had Rodney up to a sitting position and she was getting to her feet.

John hadn't thought to ask that. He wasn't hurt. He shook his head to Teyla then leaned down to make sure Elizabeth had heard.

"No," Elizabeth said. "No, I'm not hurt."

"Good," Teyla said, turning a slow circle as she looked around. "We are outside," she said nearly nonchalant. "We were in the studio a moment ago."

John shrugged and helped steady Elizabeth as she sat up on her own. "Don't look at me. Set dec must have outdone themselves."

"Of course not," Rodney snapped in frustration. "Look at that!" he pointed at a stargate prop sitting in the middle of the clearing.

John had seen stargates outside before. Sometimes they took them on location. This was different. There were no boards holding it up on the off side. There were no tire tracks, no roads and no sign that anyone had put the 'gate there. This stargate just sat in the middle of the circle of trees as if it had been there for all of eternity.

Dragging himself to his feet, John started to feel like himself again. The sun and the fresh air were nice after the studio and his headache was quickly starting to vanish. "I've never been here," he volunteered.

"Nor have I," Teyla said with a slow shake of her head.

John offered his hands to Elizabeth and assisted her up to her feet. "It gets better," he promised, trying not to feel stupidly overprotective. "You'll feel better."

Elizabeth smiled at him slowly. The gesture twisted her delicate lips upwards and lit her bright green eyes. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said like an idiot. He was an idiot, staring at her while he was somewhere he couldn't possibly be.

"We're on location?" Rodney asked, finding his feet and walking towards the 'gate.

"I wouldn't-" Teyla warned but stopped when he touched it.

"This is metal," Rodney said, astonished. He knocked his fist against the grey 'gate and waved them over. "It's not resin. It's not wood. This is real metal."

John stayed a step behind Elizabeth. He wanted to be sure she was all right and that he wouldn't need to scoop her into his arms and-- _Idiot_, he berated himself again.

She walked shakily over to the 'gate and put both of her hands against it. "It's incredible."

"It's impossible!" Rodney corrected. "There is no way on earth for there to be a real, metal stargate in the middle of a forest. It's insane. Completely. Fucking. Insane."

Teyla circled the 'gate, keeping her eyes on the trees around them. "Then perhaps we are not on Earth."

"What?" Rodney turned the word into a cry of disbelief.

"Are you not the one who says 'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'?'" Teyla asked calmly.

Chuckling a little, John knocked on the 'gate. Here they were, where they couldn't possibly be, and Teyla was finally getting to throw the Conan Doyle quote back at Rodney.

"I don't see what's funny," Rodney complained, picking up a rock and tossing it against the 'gate. The 'gate twanged and was otherwise unblemished by the rock.

"This is funny," John defended himself. "I'm standing in a field with a stargate. With you guys and no one's here filming us. I'm still on the clock you know."

That made Elizabeth giggle. "Meal penalty is coming too."

"Right..." John played along, watching Rodney's eyes go wide. Rodney would go into overtime to get a shot. He'd stay late. He'd do his own stunt work but he would not work into meals. Ever. Rodney glared at Elizabeth and then followed Teyla in a survey of the clearing.

There was grass, dirt and a whole bunch of trees from what John could see. Nothing work looking for. He remained with Elizabeth and the 'gate. It was warm when he touched it. The smooth metal of the 'gate was pleasantly warm to the touch and he rested both hands on it next to Elizabeth's smaller ones.

She smiled at him, nudging the side of his hand with her little finger. "Do you think we really came through it?" she asked softly.

The 'gate was shadowed by the trees and the sun, though beautiful above them, wasn't familiar. There was something off about the light. He looked at the 'gate, then back at Elizabeth. There were no trees around the 'gate. In fact, as his sharp eyes looked closely at the grass, he realised it was shorter in front of and behind the 'gate. As if the great kawoosh of light, that he'd seen in the special effects shots, had been keeping it closely trimmed.

"Look." He motioned to Elizabeth and knelt on the ground. He pointed at a stem that had been seared clean. It had been a dandelion, apparently they were the scourge of the galaxy. Okay, well, it had a dandelion-like stem but maybe it wasn't a dandelion because the other shorter flowers like it were purple. The purple dandelion- the purplion- the violetlion- had been sheared off. The stem was cauterised and the flower was nowhere to be found. The 'gate did that kind of thing in the script. It didn't do it in real life. Unless here, it could.

Elizabeth stared at the stem and it took her a moment longer than it had taken him. "John--" she said in shock. "No..."

"How else did we get here?" he asked with a shrug. "No tire tracks. No roads. No footprints. No helicopter pad. We all felt like we were freeze dried and then threw up. That happened in the first episode of _Wormhole: Xtreme_!"

Elizabeth smirked, picking one of the not dandelions and toying with it in her hand. He was definitely calling them violetlions.

"You watched that?"

"I love that show," he replied, resisting the urge to tuck the flower into her hair. Elizabeth had gorgeous hair, even before the hair department got to it. It looked so soft and he spent way too much time wondering what it would be like to run his hands through it. He'd had the chance once on the show, episode two-sixteen, when they were both possessed by aliens and her alien had kissed his alien. Luckily for him, his alien kissed her back. Eight takes of that scene just wasn't enough.

"So what does going through the 'gate do?" Elizabeth asked with that gentle smile. "Other than make us all sick."

"That gets better," John promised her. "After the first time it's never as bad as it was. It sends us other places. Anywhere in the galaxy, even another galaxy. We were in transit for a long time, at least, it felt like a long time. We could be anywhere."

Elizabeth thought about that, turning the flower slowly in her hands. "It really is pretty, isn't it?"

"I've seen better," John teased. Looking too long into her damn green eyes took away his ability to reason and he had to stop.

"I have found the dialing device," Teyla announced as she emerged from the woods behind them. She looked serene, as usual, and pleased with her discovery. "We should be able to dial out."

Rodney tumbled out of the trees a moment later. "Dial where?" he asked. "We push random symbols that they write in the script. They don't mean anything."

John looked from Teyla to Rodney and scratched the back of his head in thought. "You didn't see roads, or lights or anything that looked like lunch, did you?"

Teyla shook her head once as she unbuttoned the front of her coat. "There are no signs of habitation. The dialing device is heavily overgrown. No one has been here for some time. I do not recommend we remain here."

"I agree," Elizabeth said, leaving her position by the 'gate to stand next to Teyla. "Does the dialing device work?"

"Ours 'works'," Rodney complained bitterly. He picked leaf out of his hair and crumpled it in frustration. "It lights up and makes noise. It's a very excellent prop."

"Rodney," Elizabeth soothed. "We don't know how we got here, but I believe-"

John nodded. He'd agree with her that the sky was red if she asked and he suspected Rodney knew that by the sneer on his face. Teyla nodded as well and that held more weight with Rodney. Rodney rolled his eyes again but let Elizabeth finish.

"We should accept the premise that for now the stargate is real and the dialing device may be as well," she finished calmly. John tossed her smile and hoped it strengthened her resolve. They didn't have a leader. They were actors, not adventurers like their characters, but it was a heck of a lot easier to be convinced by Elizabeth than take a vote.

"Okay," John ended the discussion.

Rodney held his dour expression. "I'm surrounded by Saturn award nominees and all of a sudden you think you're super heroes. Where are we dialing?"

"Earth?" John offered with a shrug. He ran through the 'gate addresses he had memorised and was surprised to admit to himself he knew so many. "If that doesn't work, we could try Atlantis, or the Athosian colony."

"I do not believe Earth will work," Teyla replied to him. "We would require more power." She checked the safety on her replica rifle and then waved them all back. "I would like to test a theory. Please remain behind me."

His stomach leapt in glee. If Teyla's gun worked, his gun worked. If his gun worked, his radio and his fancy ancient scanner-game boy might just work too. This could be fun. This could even be better than shooting episode two-sixteen. It could even be better than shooting episode one-eleven when he had saved the day by saving Elizabeth with the shot-of-incredible-skill. In episode one-eleven, he really had felt like a super hero when he'd taken Elizabeth's hand and ran up the stairs.

Teyla fired once and the sharp rapport of the rifle was definitely real. She set it down and pulled out her pistol. She fired once at the trunk of a nearby tree and splinters flew from the wood. John hurried up to stand next to her, lifted his rifle and tried to hit the tree. He was close, he thought. Firing a real gun stung his shoulder and he winced a little.

Teyla's glance fell on him and her huge brown eyes lit with amusement. "Different when it is real, is it not?"

John let his rifle hang and concentrated on the pistol. He knew how to make it look good. John could pull his pistol and make Colonel Flanigan look like an Air Force crack shot. Taking his mind there and letting go of everything else, he fired once and the bullet slammed into the tree with a tiny puff of splinters. He bounced where he stood. This had suddenly become way more fun than work.

"Okay, that's cool."

Teyla's glee was much more contained than his. She patted his shoulder and drew him back into the woods towards the dialing device. "I do not believe we will be successful if we dial Earth."

John thought for a moment, what did he know about dialing other galaxies. It had all been in his head at one point. It had to still be in there. He snapped his fingers. "We don't have a ZPM."

"We do not," Teyla agreed. "Perhaps Atlantis would be easier to dial?"

Elizabeth had dragged Rodney back into the trees. She looked over the dialer in amazement. Rodney was toying with his scanner, which was still dark. He smacked it and then looked at John in frustration.

"Your guns work. Why doesn't this work? Stupid thing--" he tossed it into the woods but he was a better actor than an athlete and John caught it.

In John's palm, the device flared to life. The four of them were four lifesign dots on a map of the clearing.

"Oh fuck you, fly boy," Rodney cried in annoyance. "You magically get the gene here because someone magically gave you the gene in the script. I have gene therapy. It should work."

"Your gene therapy was fake," Elizabeth reminded him as she looked over John's shoulder. "John's 'gene' has always been with him."

John held up the scanner so she could get a better look and thought about where they were. He concentrated so hard on the where question that he got the map to change, just as it was supposed to. The small map of the clearing exploded into a map of the surrounding area, then a continent, then a planet and finally, an arm of the Pegasus galaxy. John knew the Pegasus galaxy from seeing it on a dozen different pieces of set dec over the years.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, are we?" Elizabeth mused. When she looked up from the device to John, he knew he loved her. He'd been debating it for awhile. Elizabeth was smart, beautiful and funny: his three favourite things in a woman. John had worried that he was getting too far into it. His alter ego, Joe, had feelings for Victoria that he kept hidden. John had been playing that for three years, well, two and half since it had been episode one-eleven when Joe had realised how much he loved Victoria. He couldn't really blame himself for being in love with her, could he?

"I think we're on M32-771," John reported to Teyla for no particular reason. She seemed satisfied with this and began dialing the Athosian colony.

Elizabeth watched her fingers. "Where are you dialing?"

"New Athos," John recognised the symbols immediately. Man, he was a dork for knowing all of this stuff.

"Why not Atlantis?" Elizabeth asked. She tilted her head in that far too cute way she did when she was thinking.

John knew the answer to that one. "No iris codes. Atlantis' 'gate has a sheild. If people are they and they don't know we're coming and we don't have codes--"

"If we dial Atlantis we'll be smears on an energy shield of a fake 'gate to a fake city in the middle of a fake ocean that we're all pretending exists," Rodney piped up darkly. "By all means, dial New Athos."

All four of them turned as one, as if their collective will could make the 'gate light up and activate. Maybe if it didn't, then they'd wake up. Maybe someone would pull John back and explain that he'd been sleeping all this time.

The 'gate obediently lit up and the lights danced from symbol to symbol until, with a whoosh better than any special effect, the 'gate was open.

"This is cool," John repeated with his mouth open. This couldn't get much more fantastic.

"It is very beautiful," Teyla agreed. She took Rodney's hand as if he were a child and led him towards the 'gate. That left John standing next to Elizabeth, where he really liked to be.

She stared at the 'gate with her eyes wide with wonder. "And I thought I was getting fired today."

"Welcome to-" he paused and chuckled lamely- "not Kansas. Definitely not Kansas."

Elizabeth's thin fingers wrapped into his and she inclined her head towards the 'gate. "Ready to follow the yellow brick road?"

John tucked Rodney's device away into his vest and beamed at her. "Only if I get to be Toto."

"You wouldn't fit in a basket," Elizabeth reminded him as they closed the distance to the 'gate.

"But we're equally scruffy," John argued back. The blue light of the rippling circle washed over them and John shivered in excitement. Elizabeth's fingers clutched his a little bit tighter and they took the last two steps in unison.

* * *

This time the trip through the 'gate only felt like a fireworks show in the back of her brain, not a frontal lobotomy. Elizabeth's knees were weak when they hit earth again. She stumbled and strong hands caught her shoulders.

"You're all right love," an accented voice promised her. She knew that voice. As her shoes came back into focus and the rest of her body started to function again, Elizabeth looked up in Carson's beaming face. Their good friend and colleague had been killed in an explosion on the secondary set. His death had put a damper on the entire end of the third season. Elizabeth had been to his funeral and she'd met his mother. Now, he was here, alive.

"It's good to see you," Carson said, and suddenly Elizabeth was wrapped in a hug. "I've missed you all terribly."

"Carson?" John said, dragging her out of the hug so he could have a turn. "What are you? How are you? Does this mean we're dead to?"

Rodney simply stared open mouthed at Carson. He shook his head and then dropped it into his hand. "I'm definitely dreaming now."

"Took you long enough," said a deep male voice Elizabeth didn't recognise.

"It took me some time to integrate the right parts into the stargate," Teyla said, explaining herself to a huge man with wild dreadlocked hair. He looked exactly like a character sketch the producers had tossed around before trying to run the show with a smaller team instead of replacing Ford. Teyla grabbed him and they touched foreheads in a familiar fashion. Elizabeth had seen Teyla perform the forehead touching ritual in character but she had no idea it was something anyone actually used.

"Come on," Carson said, tugging them towards a tent. "We've lots to talk about."

"Starting with how you're alive?" John demanded, still grinning with his arm around Carson's shoulders. "You know poor Elizabeth here had to give a eulogy for you."

"I bet it was beautifully moving," Carson said. He opened a flap of the large tent and ushered them inside. "We'll let Teyla and Ronon catch up and I'll try to fill you in on what I know."

John contentedly flopped onto one of the benches of wood and animal skin. Elizabeth glanced around and then sat down next to him. She preferred being with John. She ate with him in her trailer as often as she could. Sitting next to him now just felt right. Carson remained standing and two children, barely more than eight or nine, helped him serve them all a cup of tea in a handleless mug.

"We've got food for you too," Carson promised. "I thought you might be hungry. If your first time through the 'gate was anything like mine, your stomach wasn't a fan of the trip. This tea should help, then we'll give you some stew."

"Thanks," John replied, easily content. She both loved and envied that about him.

"Where are we?" Rodney asked, staring gloomily at his tea. "Are we really in the Pegasus galaxy?"

"As far as I know we are," Carson answered. He disappeared into the corner of the tend and returned holding a tray of flat bread and stew. He set it on the floor in front of them before serving it into bowls. "The last thing I remember on Earth was shooting episode three-one-seven. I was walking down a corridor so we could get a shot, then I was lying in the grass. It was dark and the only thing near me was a stargate, just sitting in the middle of the clearing.

Elizabeth drank her tea. She'd never had it before, but it was a lovely combination of tart spice and soothing sweetness. She set her empty tea cup down and accepted a bowl of stew from Carson. A crackling noise over on her right startled her and she turned to see John fiddling with his walkie-talkie.

He shrugged. "It works."

"Everything does," Carson explained as he handed Rodney some stew. "My scanner did. My radio did. Hell, everything in my medical kit did, and I didn't even really know how to use half of it. I was in a panic on the planet. It was dark and I don't know a bloody thing about wilderness survival. I'm not a doctor, or a superhero but I managed to dial New Athos because I remembered seeing the symbol on my script. Someone likes to doodle on the pages."

"Sorry," John offered, his mouth full of stew.

"Probably saved my life," Carson answered with a smile. "I ended up here. Ronon, that's the big man, told me I wasn't in my own galaxy anymore. He taught me to use the medical supplies in my kit, introduced me to the Athosians."

"Wait wait," Rodney interrupted, setting down his crust of bread in his stew. "The Athosians are a fictional race."

"Actually," Carson said with a shrug, "they're not. Those little ones who were just here are Athosian. So is Teyla. The big guy's soemthing else."

"Satedan," John chimed in, chewing on his bread. "They were thinking of writing him into the show."

"Right," Carson said with a grin. "Apparently Teyla almost had them talked into it."

Elizabeth put the facts in order in her mind as she drank the last of her tea. "Teyla is from here, isn't she? She's not human. At least, not human as we see it."

"Aye," Carson nodded. "Teyla's a real Athosian. She came to Earth three years ago to help create _Pegasus: Xtreme_."

Rodney nearly choked on his food. "Teyla helped write _Pegasus: Xtreme_?"

"I merely assisted in the design of the show," Teyla clarified. She'd entered silently behind Elizabeth and the hulking man, Ronon, stood behind her. "Many years ago, we began to receive transmissions from your planet."

"They're awesome," Ronon added with a toothy grin. He headed for Carson and the stew then served himself a heaping bowl. "Especially the cop shows. _Law and Order_? Really good stuff."

"Receive transmissions?" John asked. He'd finished his stew and was studying Teyla curiously. "You get TV signals?"

"We have for many years. Most of my lifetime." Teyla walked to a corner of the tent and pulled out a flat tablet from beneath some skins. "We discovered many of these in the ruins of an ancient city. It was built by our ancestors, many thousands of years ago. We used these tablets as cutting boards and mirrors until one day they began to play what you call television shows."

John rolled off the bench and took the tablet into his lap. It was the size of a notebook or laptop computer with grey metal sides and it lit up obediently at his touch. It searched for a moment and then connected. _Law and Order_, the one with Mariska Hargitay, played silently beneath John's fingertips.

"Wow," John murmured. "I just saw this episode last week."

"How do you even find time to learn your lines?" Rodney asked in frustration.

"Shhh, Rodney let her finish," Elizabeth murmured. Looking up at Teyla, she waited for the rest of the explanation.

"This galaxy is under siege and has been for thousands of years," Teyla began with the patience of someone who had been explaining her story for a long time. "There is a species known as the Wraith that pray upon all other life in our galaxy. Their malicious presence is the cause of much suffering."

"Wraith?" John asked.

"Oh-" Rodney realised before any of them did. His face started to go white. "They're just like the Shades, aren't they?"

Elizabeth's bread dried her mouth and she couldn't swallow it. John's smile disappeared from his face and his expression hardened. The Shades were terrifying. Even if they were only made of makeup and special effects, creatures that ate the life force of others were too terrible to exist.

"Wraith are the basis for the fictional creatures you call Shades," Teyla clarified for them. "Only they are more frightful and cruel than we were able to depict on the show."

"Well, we were on primetime," Rodney mused, not quite getting it.

"Oh I know, think how terrible they would have been if we were on HBO?" Carson interjected. They began to debate about how their show would have been different and Elizabeth had to tune them both out.

Elizabeth forced her teeth to chew and gulped down the bread threatening to choke her. "How can we help you fight the Wraith? We're really not good for much away from a stage or a camera. What can we do?"

John's voice was quiet and steel. "We are here for a reason, aren't we? You didn't whisk us all the way over here for an autograph session."

Rodney perked up a little, he loved meeting his fans. Elizabeth had to admit he was good at it. If she had watched their show, she would have wanted his autograph. She definitely would have wanted John's too, but she might have been a little too shy to ask for it.

"I was kidding," John said, rolling his eyes.

Rodney smacked his shoulder. "I knew that."

"We created your 'show'," Ronon began. His huge hands making air quotes around the word show struck Elizabeth as funny. She definitely shouldn't have giggled, but Ronon didn't seem to mind. "Because we wanted a way to show our people that the Wraith could be stopped."

"To many of our people Wraith are immortal demons, creatures of myth that are feared so greatly that they are nearly worshipped," Teyla explained with less humour than Ronon.

"Sorry," Elizabeth said, embarrassed by her outburst. She'd been selfish to complain.

"I understand your disbelief," Teyla continued, seemingly unflappable. "To you Shades are merely stunt men in costumes and special effects. I am afraid that here, our Wraith are terribly real."

"So, we're going to rally the troops or something?" John asked, sitting on the edge the bench. "You want us to give a speech or pretend to lead a charge, say something important and look good doing it so people believe us?"

"No," Teyla said. She and Ronon looked at each other, sharing some private joke. "We do not need you to lead our people. The Satedans and the Athosians are strong warriors, and if the Wraith did not attack us in ships-"

"Like cowards," Ronon interrupted. There was power behind his eyes, and Elizabeth couldn't help but be fascinated by him. He was easily in better shape then the best stunt man she'd met.

"Indeed," Teyla continued with great calm. "We would not have brought you here to fight our war. This is not your home. We cannot ask you to risk your lives for it."

"Okay," John nodded. He stopped fidgeting with the hilt of his suddenly real knife and tilted his head at her. "Why are we here?"

"We know entertainment when we see it," Ronon said. He stoked the fire and smiled at John. "There was no possibility your adventures were real. You were not good enough to have survived them if they were not written in your favour."

Elizabeth rolled her lips into a thin line to keep herself from laughing.

"I liked my chances of survival much more in my own galaxy, thank you," Rodney complained. He tore a piece of his bread off and tossed it into the fire. "Heart disease or stroke would have gotten me in thirty years or so. I'm all right with that. Getting eaten by space vampires? Not so much, thanks."

"They're not really vampires, Rodney," Carson piped up. "More like leeches, or walking dehydrators."

"Ugh," Rodney shuddered. "That is not an image I wanted in my head, thank you."

"So we're not heroes," John said, still trying to put the pieces together. Elizabeth knew that look in his eyes. "Why are we here?"

"You are not our heroes," Teyla corrected.

She retrieved one of the Pegasus galaxy handheld computer-like TV-playing devices, Elizabeth didn't really know what to call it. An ancient iPad? A tablet computer?

"This is Atlantis," Teyla pointed at the screen as it ran through the opening credits of _Pegasus: Xtreme_. "Atlantis was a myth of many people here I thought harmless to include in your story."

"It's real," Ronon said with a shrug. "Who knew?"

"I did not," Teyla answered.

Elizabeth looked at John helplessly. He was following this better than she was. John met Teyla's eyes. "Atlantis has some sort of sentience, doesn't it?"

"A sort, yes."

"I knew it," John said, smacking his hand against his knee in victory. "That was going to be the big plot twist for season four, wasn't it? Atlantis knowing what we were doing."

"Oh that would have been fun," Rodney agreed.

"Wouldn't it?" John said. "Think of all the new gadgets we could have--"

"Boys!" Elizabeth snapped. The angry tone she used in Victoria's staff meetings worked wonders on both of them.

"Sorry, Elizabeth," Rodney said, staring down at the reed covered floor again. He thought for a moment, then his head flew back up. "Atlantis thinks we're real," he sputtered out, eyes wide with shock. "Atlantis thinks we're real and you need us to get it to let you in."

"Atlantis can't-" John stopped and slowly began to smile. His eyes shown like he'd been just been handed the keys to Jay Leno's infamous garage of cars.

"I am afraid this is the case," Teyla replied. If she was frustrated or angry that a great legend of her people had been corrupted by a television show from the Skiffy channel, there was no sign of it in her face. "We had thought Atlantis a myth or at best long destroyed. We were very surprised to receive a transmission from the city."

"Oh what was it?" Rodney asked, all his melancholy forgotten.

"'I am here'," Ronon explained with a shrug. "Kinda short."

"We may have mistranslated," Teyla added. "We believe Atlantis has been watching, for lack of a better term, our show, _Pegasus: Xtreme._"

On the other side of the fire, Ronon started humming the theme song and all pairs of eyes in the tent flew to him.

"He does that a lot," Carson explained. "I think it gets stuck in his head."

"So a giant floating city is a fan," John said, bringing them back on topic. "What can we do? How does that help us kill Sh- I mean Wraith?"

"We believe Atlantis sent its message as an invitation, Teyla explained. "It believes, for lack of a better term, that your coming has been sanctioned by the Ancients, and it wishes you to make use of it again."

"Make use?" Rodney asked. "We get to live there?"

"You think it really exists," John said, ignoring Rodney's question. "You think if we dial Atlantis, it will forget about the shield it must have and let us in?"

"Atlantis does have a shield," Teyla said, starting to smile. "It has protected the city for many centuries. We believed it to be lost when no expedition there ever returned."

"How are you so sure we will return?" Rodney asked, turning a dark look to her.

"She has a plan," Carson said, nudging him with an elbow. "She's really quite brilliant."

"We're all brilliant," Rodney argued back. "Two time Saturn award winning ensemble cast, remember?"

Elizabeth rubbed his shoulder, wishing she could calm him. "Let her finish."

"We will dial Atlantis, and you will enter your command codes with these," she said, pulling out a wrapped bundle from beneath one of the benches. She set the leather in John's lap and slowly revealed a set of devices that resembled those they used to 'take down' the shield on the show. Elizabeth rarely wore one, but she'd seen John and Rodney wear them almost every day they had an off-world mission.

"These are ancient relics of a dead city," she said, pressing one into John's hands. "They do not work for my people, but I believe they will work for you."

John stared down at his hands. "I just have the magic touch on the show," he protested, but the light stopped him. The tiny device was a flat green metal disk attached to a strap, meant to be worn around the wrist. Scrolls and designs filled with blue light and pulsed twice before it shut off.

"Do I get one?" Rodney asked, taking the device from John. When it immediately went dark he dropped it back and rolled his eyes. "So typical. Play the romantic lead and you get all the perks. Play someone with substance and you--"

* * *

The rock hit the surface of the water and sank. The second one did the same. Either Elizabeth was the world's (maybe the universe's) worst rock skipper or she wasn't trying. He didn't have a good segue if she wasn't trying, so John decided to pretend she was. Might as well go for it.

"You kinda have to flick your wrist," he said, flopping down next to her on the dry bank of the swampy little lake near Teyla's village.

"Oh?" Elizabeth asked, looking a little confused. Even confusion was cute on her.

"To skip the rock," John said with a smile. "You have to flick your wrist to skip the rock."

"I'm not skipping rocks," she said with a smile. "At least, I hadn't intended to."

"So you're just tossing them in the water, trying not to hit fish in the head?" John asked lazily. He wanted her smile to brighten up a little. He had a feeling he could do it if he kept at it. "Or trying to hit fish in the head? Elizabeth, really, there are better ways to catch fish. I think one of Teyla's friends here could help you if that's what you're into..." As he elaborated on the ways to catch fish, and how rocks really were not accepted as one of the best, she giggled and he barely managed to keep a straight face. Mission accomplished.

"You okay?" he asked. The ripples on the pond had faded and the alien bugs hummed around them. Either the birds on this planet were into a really weird kind of warbling, or Teyla's planet had some pretty big bugs. He didn't need to know.

"Sure," Elizabeth answered. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sarcasm was a good sign. When Elizabeth was really down, she didn't bother. She'd been pretty quiet since the production staff announced they were terminating her contract. He would have probably been quiet to if they were busting a window in his face. John liked this light in her eyes and he was glad it had come back, even if they had to be on the far side of the universe to get it.

"You're trapped on an alien planet about to go on a possibly suicidal mission?" he asked, searching the ground around him for one of the little rocks she'd been tossing. Finding one, John smoothed it in his hands. "Have some big blockbuster waiting for you when you get home?"

She sighed heavily and pulled her knees up to her chest. Elizabeth dropped her head onto them and her dark curls tumbled down on top of themselves. The humidity was slowly getting to them, and messing up her hair in a way he found unreasonably attractive. "No," she answered finally. "Oh no, bunch of auditions, but hey, that's the gig right? We audition and sometimes we're rewarded." She wrapped her arms tighter. "My mother has my dog."

"She usually does, right?" John remembered. Cleaning his rock slowly, he watched her smile a little in response.

"They get along great," Elizabeth said. Her smile grew as she lifted her head. "My mother says it keeps her young, and Sedge doesn't seem to mind being spoiled. She'll be all right there."

John didn't ask her how long she thinks Sedge will be there, or how much Elizabeth must be worried about her mother. He had known they were close, and he liked that about Elizabeth the first time she told him. John's family was a mess, wealthy, proper people out on the east coast who don't care much for their son being an actor on that science fiction show. If he worked in 'the theatre' or confined his roles to documentaries trying to save the world, he might be all right. He'd still be living off his trust fund and his father would like that. Nancy might look for him after awhile. Especially when the show goes off the air. She might notice if it made the news.

"Do you think they'll call it an accident?" he asked, hoping the line of thought wasn't too dark. "Like Carson?" He tossed the rock and it skipped four times. Not too bad. He could do better with a flatter rock.

"Do you think there was an accident?" Elizabeth asked, eyes wide with concern. "You don't think anyone on the crew was hurt..."

"Nah," he waved off that thought and found a rock. Showing it to her as he rubbed the dirt off of it, John grinned to ease the mood, "Teyla's careful."

"There are so many things I thought I knew about her," she said, watching him and the rock.

He rubbed it a few more times, then aimed out into the lake. John got five skips that time and a resounding plop at the end. "You know what they say about people you work with," he said with a shrug. "You never really know them." He liked to think he knew her, and Elizabeth was more than just someone he worked with; he was starting to think it had been that way for awhile now.

"What don't I know about you, John Sheppard?" she asked, smiling again.

If she knew what that look did to the pit of his stomach, he might be a dead man. John found another rock instead of answering right away. He had to say something more than that lame thoughts in his head. He could do it, find something useful, anything.

"I like skateboarding."

She shook her head. "I saw you on the back lot with Evan."

"I hate pistachios."

"You pick them out of the nuts at craft service," Elizabeth said.

John's search for a rock had left him right next to her. Less than a foot was between them and he was starting to feel the way he had in episode two-sixteen. The warm, tingling sensation crept up from his toes and settled in the roots of his hair. He shivered reflexively.

"Do you want my coat?" Elizabeth asked, even though it wouldn't fit.

The earnest desire to be helpful behind her smile made John laugh. He dropped his forehead to her shoulder, even though that brought him painfully close and he tried to avoid being painfully close to her. He liked close. He liked close a hell of a lot and painfully close would be his undoing.

"I think it was just one of those someone walked over my grave moments," he covered weakly. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce...plop. Six, he thought, really not bad.

"I hope your grave isn't in this galaxy," she said. The darkness of that shared thought hushed them both for awhile and then Elizabeth sighed. "I can't decide if I should treat this as a gig in my head and just let it go, or if I should make something better of it. Am I playing Victoria for the whole galaxy so they can have someone to believe in, or am I--"

"I like you better as you," he said, shrugging. "If that means anything."

"Victoria has a PhD," she argued. Elizabeth's hand drifted over and rested on his arm.

John just barely managed not to shiver again and gulped in relief. "So does Doctor David Hewlett," he reminded her. "I like Rodney a hell of a lot better."

"You like Rodney?"

"Of course I like Rodney," He put on a wounded look. "We have a-" he paused and grinned, "-unique relationship. Kinda like brothers."

"Older and younger brothers," Elizabeth surmised with a quick shake of her head.

God, he loved her curls when she did that. He wanted to tangle his hands into them, pull her close and-- John swallowed again, this time harder. "Family. It's important, don't you think?"

Elizabeth's grin back was small and her lips had an impish curl to them. "Am I the older or younger sister?"

"Definitely Rodney's older sister," he replied, quickly looking away. He might have put too much emphasis on Rodney, or otherwise looked like an idiot.

"John-" her voice was soft and he nearly jumped.

Yeah, he was definitely an idiot."'Lizabeth?" Her fingers moved gently along his arm.

"Do you remember episode two-sixteen?" she asked.

Did he remember it? Did it cross his mind once a day off set and eight or nine times a day on set? Had his heart skipped in his chest when he got the script? Had he needed Carson to stamp on his foot during the table read to make him pay attention?

John's vice was just a bit on the strangled side. "Yeah."

"On the fourth take, when we didn't hear them cut--"

God, she remembered that. He was a dead man. Might as well start looking for a Wraith-soul-sucker now and be done with it. He couldn't save himself. Anything he said would be stupid. "Yeah?"

"Why did you let me keep kissing you?"

"Let you?" he asked, whipping his head around to meet her gaze in confusion. "I was the one kissing you. I apologised."

"It was my tongue."

It had been hers. She was right and the memory raced through him like a blast furnace switching on. He had to say something that wasn't moronic. Maybe he could still save himself.

"I guess I was caught up in the moment. You're always talking about the method, anyway," he finished with a smile that he hoped looked more realistic than it felt.

"Oh," the soft sound was almost disappointed. Elizabeth touched his cheek sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he begged, switching positions so fast that he almost ended up in the lake. If she ended this conversation before they got to the good part, it wouldn't matter what the Wraith did to them. "What were you doing to say?"

Her cheeks were pink. Elizabeth was blushing. "I think that's my favourite scene."

"Of the show?"

She shifted her weight, putting her legs down and moving ever closer to him. Elizabeth's voice dropped to a whisper. "You could say that."

The light was poor and he could barely see her lips. She rested her hand on his shoulder, then it crept up the back of his neck. Her fingers were cold and he shivers from their touch. The light didn't matter; she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him slowly closer.

Elizabeth's lips were soft and warm against his. The kiss was chaste, even gentle, and they part with a sigh. Elizabeth's forehead rested against his cheek and John let his hand find her arm.

"I should be thinking of home, and my mom and my dog-" Elizabeth paused, running her fingers over his cheek. "Instead, I'm sitting out here, thinking about you."

He could have just landed James Bond and not have been happier. John held her delicate face in his hands then kissed her forehead, just over her right eyebrow. "Thank God I'm not the only one," he whispered back.

Elizabeth's smile was several shades brighter and she insinuates herself further into his arms. The next kiss was rich, consuming; the main course after the appetiser. John's tongue felt its way into her mouth and she reminded him just how much he loved episode two-sixteen. Elizabeth pushed back, rocking him further onto his heels. John let her, welcomed her, even begged her to be closer with every fibre of his being.

The ground behind him sloped slowly towards the lake they'd both forgotten. Elizabeth pressed against his chest, kissing him the way he had been dreaming about for over a year. The heat and breath of her made him forget the lake and his balance. They teetered together, wrapped around each other, before they rolled clumsily back.

John grunted, Elizabeth gasped in surprise and John's left foot stopped them both with a splash. Holding Elizabeth to his chest, her head haloed with stars, he winced as water seeped into his boot.

"John?"

"Just wet," he answered, smiling up at her. "Maybe muddy." The edge of the bank beneath him was damp and slowly soaked into his clothes. He could smell water and reeds around them but all that mattered was her.

Elizabeth started to get up and he stopped her, holding her close. She was thin and slight in his arms but solid against him. Her curls tumbled down, soft against his neck and the back of his hand. His right hand ran down her neck, caressing her collarbone past the edge of her red t-shirt. There were a hundred reasons he could think of to keep going, to pull her shirt off and be with her now, on the bank of the fucking lake.

She kissed him again, leaving fire behind on his lips. "I should go."

"I hate 'should'," John replied, trailing his finger lower down on her chest. "It's never any fun."

"We have a big day tomorrow," she said, but she didn't stop his hand. Beneath her shirt, he could feel the muscles of her stomach. "Something about saving the galaxy."

"Right." He closed his eyes, wondering if he'd been dreaming and when he opened them again and she'd be gone. "We're doing that, aren't we?"

"I don't think this-" she kissed his lips sweetly- "counts as saving the world."

"Even if it feels like it," he sighed and let her go. "You have to get up first."

Elizabeth kissed his chin, then slowly pulled herself away. She stood above him, an angel in the alien moonlight, surrounded by the buzzing of aliens insects. Hell, maybe it was frogs. He couldn't know. She lowered her hand, helping him up. He danced out of the lake, shaking his wet boot and frowning at it.

"You're going to want to dry that before tomorrow," she said in her best parental-Victoria-leader of Atlantis-tone.

"Nah, I'll go soggy," he joked. "I can look good with one wet sock."

"You can," Elizabeth agreed, chuckling a little with him. "I don't know if it will be helpful. In fact, it might even distract you from what you're supposed to be doing."

"Teyla's great and marvellous plan," he said, shaking his head. Elizabeth's hand remained in his and he held it. He wasn't letting go until she did. "You know, I used to think she was just a quick study. Always knew her lines first, always got the blocking; now I know better. She's not some incredible actress. She's just a genius. I couldn't draw up a battle plan if my life depended on it."

"Definitely not with a wet sock," Elizabeth said, winking at him before she pulled away. "I'm sleeping in this tent," she said, pointing over to the right. "I believe you're in with Rodney, Carson and Ronon."

"Rodney snores," John complained, keeping her hand.

Elizabeth's eyes danced from their joined hands to his face and she tugged his hand to move him closer. "You snore."

"I do not," he protested. "It was just the once and I was drunk. A lot of things happened that night." The second season cast party had gone a little wild but no one had ended up hating each other. He'd woken up with Elizabeth's head in his lap and spent the next few nights trying to figure out why he'd gotten so lucky, even if he did snore.

"Maybe just that once," he conceded. Catching her face in his hand again, he could see the red of her lips in the weak light of the fire in the middle of camp. "You're beautiful."

"John," she said, turning her lips inward to kiss his hand. "I'm starting to wonder if there was something in that tea."

"We should get more," he insisted, wrapping his free hand around her lower back. John pulled her closer, pressing their bodies lightly together.

Elizabeth pressed a finger against his lips. "We have to live through tomorrow," she said. She never added a hypothetical after to that. Instead, she squeezed his hand and let his fingers fall away.

John watched her go until she was in the tent. He could have counted the seconds he stood there, waiting to see if she'd look back. He only had to get to three before he caught her smiling at him. After she disappeared into the tent, he smiled out at the lake. If it was a dream, it was an amazing one, even if his leg was soaked all the way up to the knee. Sure, tomorrow he was going to fight aliens he had absolutely no idea how to fight and possibly die, but he couldn't make himself care.

The taste of Elizabeth was still on his lips and he stripped off his boots, hung up his sock and BDU trousers, and crawled into a space on the floor between Rodney and Carson. The furs were warm around him and even though it wasn't his apartment, it was nice. It was being at summer camp again, far away from his father and his brother, out with his friends in the woods.

"Took you long enough," Rodney mumbled, rolling over away from John.

"Thought you were going to stay out all night." Carson teased, elbowing John lightly. It was took dark to see, but John imagined him smiling.

"We have to get up early," he retorted, hunkering down and trying to divert his mind from thoughts of Elizabeth.

"Right," Carson said, swallowing a chuckle. "That's it."

* * *

"Who'dve know that there was so little difference between firearms training on set and firearms?" John quipped, loading his rifle. Since the prop was now fully functional, he was carrying it into battle.

Elizabeth was a little more nervous. She'd only really had a gun in episode two-sixteen, and her firearms training wasn't nearly as extensive as John or Rodney's. Carson was in the same boat, and he picked up the stolen Wraith stunner with a look of apprehension.

"You're sure this can't really hurt anyone?" he asked Ronon as he lifted the weapon.

"I can shoot you with it, so you know," Ronon offered. He didn't smile until after Carson had pulled his hands back instinctually. "First you feel like your body's dead. Then you get a headache. Nothing too bad. just like we talked about."

"You're in the back," Elizabeth reminded him. "You're our backup, our medic, you don't need to worry."

"If they're shooting at you and you need to shoot back, we're dead," Rodney said darkly.

Elizabeth watched poor Carson pale a little. She had missed him terribly. She patted his shoulder comfortingly. "We won't dead. Teyla and Ronon have a good plan, Atlantis is our city, it's on our side, just waiting for us."

"You make it sound like a puppy," Rodney noticed, tucking his grenade into his tactical vest.

Elizabeth hadn't realised that it was live explosive and she found herself looking at John for comfort.

He held out his own grenade and showed her the pin. "I don't think we'll need 'em. Atlantis is supposed to be deserted. No one knows it exists, right?"

"Yeah," Ronon said, waiting by the 'gate with his huge arms crossed over his chest.

"We believe so," Teyla said more helpfully. She finished checking over her own gear and walked past John and Rodney with a pleased nod. "I do think all the weapons are a precautionary measure and I like to be careful."

"Careful is good," Rodney agreed, taking his position next to Ronon. He was adapting better now that he had a purpose. Rodney always felt better when he was doing something constructive.

"We can agree with that, right, Carson?" Elizabeth said warmly.

Teyla checked over Elizabeth's vest, tucked in a strap and then nodded and moved on to Carson. Carson's vest was perfect, but she checked his stunner thoroughly before she moved on. "You will be fine Carson, just stay close to us."

John stood in front of the 'gate, almost framing himself with the circle of metal. Teyla took her place next to him and nodded to the hunter at the dialing device. John double checked the communication device on his arm and lit it up.

"Dial Atlantis," Teyla ordered.

Elizabeth watched in wonder as light chased itself around the 'gate. She'd seen it happen on the set and a few times on the show, but it put butterflies in her stomach to watch it for real. The 'gate hummed, then burst with bright blue light. It poured outward as if something had exploded behind it, then settled down to ripple gently. It really was incredible, like something out of a story. She'd never been that involved in the mythology behind the show. She learned her lines, she showed up on time but she'd never been into the show. It was a job and she hadn't gotten any further into it than that.

Now, she was about to walk through a mystical portal to a floating city and change the fate of a galaxy; all without a script. It was like her first movie set all over again, or that terrible TV spot where she'd been far too young and innocent. Her stomach was tied into knots that danced all over the place, like a spider's web being pulled between two blades of grass. John tapped his device, and something within it lit up blue. John and Teyla disappeared, then Rodney and Ronon and finally it was just her and Carson staring at the 'gate.

"It gets better," Carson reminded her. "It's never as bad as the first time. I haven't thrown up since the first time."

Elizabeth couldn't tell if he was being calming for her or for himself, but she smiled at him. "We'll be fine," she agreed. "We just walk through together, and look for cover. Easy."

The light from the 'gate left blue ripples of colour on Carson's face as he stilled himself. "Easy."

This time she knew what was going to happen and she walked right into it. The space between realities, the wormhole, or whatever magical science it was, consumed her and turned her into one of the many points of light all around her. Instead of fighting it, this time Elizabeth both surrounded and was the light. In barely any time, or after a hundred years, she wasn't sure which, she emerged into Atlantis.

The real Atlantis was a paradise of stained glass and gently curved architecture. Green and blue metal surrounded them, and the steps Teyla stood on lit up behind her feet. Rodney looked gleeful as he looked over control panels covered in sheets. Ronon was making a perimeter sweep and John stood in the middle, grinning at her as if he'd just been giving an Oscar.

"Look at this," he said, tucking his gun away. "Just look at this. Elizabeth- all of it's true. All of it's real. The 'gate, the controls, the lights in the stairs..."

Teyla looked up at the windows and the blue light beyond. "We are also underwater."

Rodney's glee faded away immediately. "We're going to die."

'We're not," John said, running up the stairs towards him. "It's all right. We're just underwater, in a city that was designed to go underwater, right?"

Teyla's expression remained neutral as she moved closer to the windows looking out into the ocean. "I can see the surface. The Ancients must have submerged the city to keep it safe from their enemies."

"In the pilot, we almost died because the city ran out of power," Rodney reminded all of them.

Ronon seemed amused by his memory, but said nothing. The large man seemed almost disappointed that there was nothing to fight and he'd relaxed his guard somewhat.

"We are not on a television show that must have peril to be interesting," Teyla reminded Rodney. "We are also not as large of a group as we had in the beginning of the show. The amount of power drained by us being here is small compared to what a group of sixty would generate."

Rodney still didn't look convinced but he was distracted when John starting pulling sheets. Control panels lit up beneath his touch and stayed on.

Elizabeth headed slowly up the stairs, a dumbstruck Carson at her side.

"Maybe I am dead," he muttered, almost to himself. "This could be heaven. It's beautiful, people I know are here. My mother's going to show up in a few minutes."

Elizabeth squeezed his shoulder, leading him up the stairs into the control room. It looked almost identical, except where the Atlantis she knew was a soundstage, this had walls, real doors, and corridors that went on forever after them. She looked down at the brightly lit control panel, wondering if the Ancient symbols she knew from looking at the same props for three years had any value here.

John snuck up behind her, nudging her shoulder. "Check out your office," he said, almost bouncing with amusement.

Across the little walkway was the room her, Victoria's, office had been based on. It was empty of the masks and art that had been Victoria's, but it was unmistakably her space. Elizabeth headed across, running her fingers along the railing in disbelief. The metal was warmer than she expected and that was almost welcoming, as if the city really had wanted them to come. She stood in the centre, where her desk would be, and shivered. It was the opposite of deja vu. Instead of her memory being more powerful, Atlantis was so beautiful that it pushed all of that away.

This was real and Elizabeth suddenly felt very small where she stood. Like a child finding out the castle of her imagination was real and the last bastion against a very real threat, she felt unarmed and vulnerable. A handful of actors couldn't hold the magical city against the vampires that fed in the night. It was ridiculous.

She lowered her gaze to the floor and was almost tempted to curl into a ball against the wall and wait for Teyla to tell her wait to do. She wasn't Victoria, she wasn't tough or the kind of person who stared down the bad guys. She learned her lines and fell stupidly in love with her co-star, neither of those things were particularly heroic.

"Someone's dialing in," Rodney said in a sudden flurry of movement by the panel.

Elizabeth startled, moving closer to the class to see what was happening. Beyond the walls of her office, she could see the 'gate light up and begin to dial.

"Yours?" John asked just in case. It wasn't part of the plan to have Teyla's people follow them yet, but John was careful. Elizabeth admired his instincts and wondered if she had any of her own that would be useful.

"No," Teyla said, her voice deepening with concern. "Can you raise the shield?"

Rodney slammed a control and the sheilf flew up before he'd even realised what he was doing. "Oh," he said in surprise. "It's the same control."

"Good to know," Carson said, hovering behind him.

John has his rifle out again and he and Ronon were eyeing the 'gate with suspicion. It continued to spin, gaining more lights before there was flash and a whoosh of light against the shield. The golden light held it the opening thrust of the 'gate and remained up. It was silent in the huge 'gate room for a long time as the six of them held their breath, waiting.

The hum of the shield was almost oppressively loud before something hit it. Elizabeth jumped then, not wanting to believe what it was. It was like having a bird hit the windshield of a car. She could imagine the impact in her mind, and she knew it had happened, but there was no evidence. She still felt the loss, no matter how irrational it was. The 'gate clicked off and the shield vanished a moment later.

Rodney's hand was shaking as he held it over the control, just in case the needed it again. Ronon and Teyla shared a long look.

"Keep an eye on the shield," John said, touching Rodney's shoulder. "We're going to search the city." He looked to Elizabeth when Carson didn't move.

"Did someone just...?" Carson asked.

"I think so, but surely they--" Rodney stopped, staring at the shield. They weren't capable of discussing it. They'd killed someone. It could have been a rock, or a tree branch; they could tell themselves that, but they knew better.

"Come with me," John said, offering his hand to her. "Rodney and Carson can keep an eye on the 'gate. Elizabeth tore her eyes from it reluctantly and took John's hand like a lifeline.

Teyla and Ronon were dividing the doors based on a map Teyla held that looked so old it could have been pulled from a tomb. Elizabeth realised it very well might have been but said nothing.

"Who was that?" John asked them.

"The Genii, Ronon answered without much elaboration. "They want the city."

Elizabeth felt the cold fingers on the back of her neck return. Kolya, the leader of the Genii, had been one of the most intense villains on the show. If he too were based in real life...she had no desire to meet him.

"Waving your hand in front of the crystals like this opens the door," Teyla demonstrated. "The device on your arm can be configured to find mine by touching this glyph and this one here," she tapped them in and Elizabeth tried to sear them into her memory. They would be important if they got lost. "Try to head for the middle of the city. We need to find a large chair device."

"No way," John interrupted, suddenly full of wonder again. "Atlantis really has that?"

"Of course it does," Teyla said, looking at him with curiosity. "I tried to be thorough in my representation of the city. I did wish you to be accurately prepared."

"Thanks," John replied, beaming at Elizabeth. It was the same smile he'd had when he brought his skateboard to set, only magnified a few hundred times. "Come on," he said, tugging her hand gently. "We have to find this."

"Good luck," Ronon said, patting John's back. "Touch only the doors."

Elizabeth agreed with him; they didn't need any distractions. Atlantis could be a death trap just as easily as it could be their salvation.

John rolled his eyes a little but nodded. "See you in the chair room."

"Not if we beat you," Ronon finished, heading for the other large door out of the room.

* * *

After five minutes of walking through blue lit corridors, Elizabeth still had John's hand in hers. It made her feel a little like a child again. John's sense of wonder was certainly childlike, but he was careful as they followed the route sketched out their copy of the map.

"Left," they agreed and John waved the door open. They'd seen a huge whale-like creature swim past one of the windows and Elizabeth was hoping for another. Atlantis was unbelievably huge. It would have taken up the entire studio lot and the one next to it, possibly even the other one across the road. She'd never been anywhere like it before and she doubted anything else would measure up again when she got back. If she ever got back.

John led her around another corner, and this time she opened the door. Having the city welcome them with lights and open doors was unnerving. It really was a little like having a new puppy. Everything that happened was anxious to please them. If they hesitated in a doorway, the lights stayed on in both rooms. Atlantis wanted them to be welcome, and it was difficult not to feel at home. She had been living here, even though she'd never been here before. Elizabeth had put her life into Atlantis for the last three years and now she finally felt as if she belonged.

John paused in front of one of the huge windows, then pointed. "Check it out," he said, drawing her eyes. "More fish."

"Maybe they like the light," Elizabeth guessed. She wound her arm around his and watched the school of silver fish disappear away into the dark sea around them. "I've never been underwater."

"I've been diving," John admitted, "but nothing like this."

"Nothing has ever been like this," she agreed, holding him closer. John took the initiative, stealing a kiss before they continued on. The motion was slight and quick; Elizabeth was almost unsure it had even happened, except for the way she was blushing. They were going to have to talk, if they got out of this. If it were even possible to get out of this.

Teyla and Ronon arrived in the chair room a moment after they did. The four of them stood around a chair in the centre of a circular room. The walls closed in around them and the light waited patiently for someone to take the chair. Teyla glanced at it, then looked at John, resigned to her inability to work the technology. "You must raise the city above the water if we are to defend ourselves."

"Just think up?" John asked.

Elizabeth recognised his nervous smile and wished she could do more to help him. She knew he'd taken a piloting lesson or two, once, a long time ago. This wasn't a plane so maybe they wouldn't even apply. As he was about to sit down, she bounded up and caught him. Taking his shoulders, she kissed him.

"For luck," she explained, returning to Teyla and Ronon. She was blushing bright pink and she thought she saw a touch of red on John's face as well. Ronon grinned and Teyla seemed entirely unsurprised. She pulled a radio, John's, from her pocket and spoke into it.

"Rodney, we have arrived in the chair room--"

"Teyla!" Rodney's grateful chip interrupted her over the radio. "They keep dialing in. I don't know how they are, but they keep trying. I almost missed it last time. I don't know if this shield is going to hold--"

"Tell him I'm coming," Ronon said, rolling his eyes.

"Ronon and I will assist you," Teyla said into the radio. "We will arrive shortly."

John had sat while they were talking and the initial blue light had only brightened since he'd been there. While Teyla had talked to Rodney, he'd been in with the city. Elizabeth had no idea what he was doing, or how any of it could possibly help, but Teyla seemed to think it would. That had to mean something.

"Will you stay?" Teyla asked, waiting by the door.

Elizabeth had no idea if John could hear her, or what was happening. She started to speak and the floor shook beneath them. More controlled than an earthquake, the floor shook one more time then began to rise. They were moving, heaving upwards, just as they had wanted to do.

"Come," Teyla decided for her, waving her towards the door. "John will be able to speak to us in control, if he needs to."

She hated leaving him, even if he was unaware they were even with him anymore.

"Come," Teyla said again. "He will be fine."

Back in the control room, breathing quickly from the pace Ronon and Teyla had set, Elizabeth watched as they took up defensive positions facing the 'gate.

"Wait," Rodney said, looking at them both in confusion. "On the show we just leave the 'gate shield up. Nothing comes through."

Behind the great window at the top of the staircase, Elizabeth could see sunlight streaming in. The concern and worry on Teyla's and Ronon's faces seemed entirely out of place.

"Do you remember Kolya, Rodney?" Teyla asked him over the barrel of her rifle.

"Course I do," Rodney said, blowing off the question.

Something else hit the shield and for a moment it flickered. Elizabeth instinctually pulled back, putting a console between her and the 'gate, just like Carson had.

"He was one of the more interesting villains," Rodney continued, still staring at Teyla. "John killed him."

"John has not been in this reality long enough to kill him," Teyla answered.

"Too bad," Ronon added, never shifting his position.

Teyla frowned and that made Elizabeth's heart sink down into her stomach. Wraith were bad enough. Kolya had been the man behind some of the more terrifying scenes of the show. He'd tortured John's character, terrified Rodney's, nearly kidnapped hers, and done everything he could to cause misery. That was the fictional version. The real version was undoubtedly as much like the fake as the city was to the set.

"How do you think he got our plans?" Teyla asked Ronon across her gun. "Do you think there was a traitor involved?"

"I've always thought you had a spy," he grumbled.

Elizabeth stared at the Wraith stunner leaning next to the control panel where Rodney still sat. She wasn't a good shot, but she could certainly help. Lifting it up and sighting down the barrel at Ronon's side, she realised Victoria would never be there. Victoria was never going to kiss her flyboy in the hallway, or find her way home.

"Rodney," Teyla said, her voice deathly calm. "Drop the shield."

Teyla and Ronon were brutally efficient with their guns. Without slow motion or cameras to follow the action, Elizabeth quickly realised that unless one was trained in the art of weapons, it was all luck to fire a gun. Luck fell three of the Genii warriors but Teyla and Ronon's skill felled a great many more. The air stank of ozone from the stunner and gunpowder. Ronon was smiling and Teyla seemed content.

"Raise the shield," Teyla ordered Rodney.

He obeyed, and a quick glance back told Elizabeth he was no longer trembling. He was surrounded by death, and Rodney understood. Carson was having a harder time with it. He'd always been more sensitive, and it brought a great depth to his character. He finally found a place behind Rodney, and put a hand on his shoulder as they peered down on the pile of bodies. It was more death than any of them had ever seen and the smell of blood and sorched flesh turned Elizabeth's stomach.

Teyla and Ronon started their way down. Teyla held a pistol and Ronon his weapon. Elizabeth watched them for a moment before she saw the first shot. They were executing the wounded. One of the Genii pawed at Ronon before he shot it and Elizabeth had to close her eyes. Each gunshot cut into her and she had no way of tuning them out.

"He is not here," Teyla said with curt disappointment. "I thought he would come if we had the city of the Ancients."

"Perhaps he is a greater coward than any of us realised," Ronon shrugged, kicking aside a dead body. "I thought you were giving him too much credit."

Stopping at the top the the staircase, Elizabeth looked over the bodies and wondered why she hadn't been sick. Her stomach was one solid knot, but her knees were solid. Would it hit her later that all of the bodies had once been men?

Someone grabbed her shoulder and Elizabeth tried to turn, thinking it was John or Rodney. Instead of a familiar, a deep, strange voice rasped in her ear.

"Hold very still," he ordered, "assuming you want to live."

Teyla and Ronon's guns were immediately up and pointed at her. Elizabeth had to remember that they weren't pointed at her. The knife in her throat definitely was directed towards her and cold fear grabbed her with iron fingers.

"Let her go Kolya," Teyla said. There was a malice Elizabeth had never heard before in her voice.

"Oh no," Koyla disagreed, tightening his grip. Elizabeth coudn't move; could barely breathe with his arms around her. "I'm taking her and I'm leaving. Dial the address I came from or she dies."

Elizabeth could just see Rodney's terrified face past the railing. When he didn't move, Koyla dug the knife in. Elizabeth bit her lip but she couldn't help her startled cry of pain. Across the room from her, the 'gate started to light up and dial out. Teyla and Ronon looked at each other, but they were on the same side of the room. Koyla held her close enough that all she could smell was his sweat and old gunpowder. His arms were still iron around her and Elizabeth began to wonder if this was how she was going to die. Killed by a madman before she knew if they had saved the galaxy or not.

Motion in a corner of the 'gateroom drew everyone's attention at the bottom of the great stairs.

"Kolya," John recognised, even with knowing. Maybe it was the familiarity of the position; Elizabeth was being held just as Victoria had been in episode one-eleven. "Let her go."

"Or you'll what?" Kolya asked, laughing.

Elizabeth could feel the vibrations behind her and that made her stomach turn and twist more than the bodies.

"Make an impossible shot and save her?" he asked, incredulous. "I know what you are. All of you 'heroes' and nothing but frauds from another realm. The soldiers know better than to try and hit me. What are you going to do? Talk me to death?"

"Elizabeth," John called, drawing her attention. "Elizabeth, episode three-twenty."

"You are going to try and talk me out of it, aren't you?" Kolya's laughter became even more maniacal. "You, a pitiful little pretty boy--"

John didn't move.

Teyla and Ronon couldn't reach her. Rodney couldn't help her and John wasn't a colonel. He couldn't shoot Koyla and save her.

She was going to die.

She'd never told John how much, how foolishly, she loved him. Could he see it in her eyes? Was time running as slowly for him as it was for her?

Elizabeth felt the shockwave first. Outside the huge stained glass window, the one that was intended to doom poor Victoria, something had exploded. The crackling of glass and the stinging heat came second. Kolya, with his back to the window, took the full brunt of the blast. His arms flew wide in surprise and shock in that instant, she was free.

Elizabeth took advantage of that and dropped. Curling into a ball with her hands over her head, she waited out the hell around her. Glass flew past her and rained down on her with pieces of flame. It wasn't until hands were guiding her up that she even dared to breathe.

"He's gone," John murmured, holding her close to his chest. He stroked her hair, pulling out shards of glass. "He's gone."

She lifted her head from his chest, wiping tears from her eyes.

John quickly turned her away. "Don't look just yet," he warned. "Give yourself a while. We're not heroes, you know."

"What did you do?" she asked, surprised by how much she was trembling.

"Gave Carson my grenade," John shrugged, grinning at her. "Didn't think it would work that well."

Elizabeth stared up at him in shock. It was an incredibly stupid, reckless thing to do, and it had saved her life.

"I got lucky," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her and take all her protests away. At least, for the moment.

* * *

_Epilogue:_

"The Wraith are retreating." Lekure, one of the Athosian engineers, reported from the central console. "They have been defeated."

Elizabeth let her arms hold her up and shook the weakness out of her knees. She'd been fighting the Wraith for just over a year now, and every time they locked weapons in the cold darkness of space, she went through the same gutwrenching stages of fear and relief. It was a little like beginning a new show. Maybe that was why she'd stayed. Maybe it was because she had been ready to be done acting.

John's voice, as carefree as ever, crackled over the radio. "How're you guys doing down there?" He'd been flying puddlejumpers against darts out around Atlantis, a skill he'd picked up with incredible speed.

"We're in one piece," Elizabeth told him, smiling widely. "What's our score now?"

"Atlantis eighteen, Wraith zero," John said, chuckling. "Who knew we were that good?"

"Certainly not the Emmy's." She could hear him laugh harder at the quip.

"You save dinner for me?"

Elizabeth leaned against the panel behind her, rocking back on forth on her aching feet. "Don't I always?"

"You get a good recording for Rodney?" John asked, talking to her while he flew the jumper home. "He's been wanting more of the fighter jockey stuff."

"I did." She retreated to her office. She had never intended to be a leader. Playing one on TV was one thing, running a city was something else entirely. First, she'd been terrified. Then, slowly, after many long nights with John's arms around her, Elizabeth realised that the control she summoned up to play Victoria could be summoned up as Elizabeth.

Even if Elizabeth didn't have a doctor and speak five languages. Elizabeth could rally the friendly aliens to fight the evil ones. She could organise a team, not unlike Victoria.

Sinking into her chair, Elizabeth flicked on her computer. It was one of the aliens ones, more like a tablet or one of those new I-things Rodney was so excited about back on Earth. After a little work, her new computer had solitaire and as long as she was in Atlantis, through the magic of subspace and the glowing ZPMs that ran the city, she could email Rodney and her mother once a week.

_Pegasus: Xtreme _had been renewed yet again. They'd had to replace her and John, but Joe and Victoria's heroic deaths had taken the show in a new direction. Rodney even had a love interest and her dog was happy with her mother.

She hadn't even realised how far she'd drifted off into her thoughts until John was perched on her desk, leaning forward to kiss her.

"Hail to the conquering hero." He teased, kissing her cheek rakishly. "Miss me?"

Smiling at him and returning the kiss with a deep, needy exploration of his mouth, Elizabeth thoroughly answered his question. She dug her fingers into his shoulder, smelling the finally mechanical odour of the jumper bay on him. "Let's have dinner." She tugged his hand, dragging him towards the mess hall.

John stumbled behind her. "I might not be that hungry." His face was a little flushed and she'd gotten his attention.

Elizabeth pulled him into the transporter and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Neither am I."

He kissed her, shoving her back against the wall with gleeful enthusiasm. The motion of his lips against hers made her weak in the knees again but this time Elizabeth loved the sensation.

"John," she murmured as they left on the level of their quarters, not the mess hall.

He nuzzled her cheek then trailed his hand through her dark curls. "Mmm?"

"Remember the talk we had this morning?"

"I remember you being naked."

Elizabeth giggled and waved her hand in front of the glowing blue crystals to open the door. "I'd have gotten dressed if I'd known that was all you'd remember."

Sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her to the strangely out of place wooden bed they'd procured on a trade mission, John dropped her gently and leaned over her. He traced her neck, then smiled sweetly. "I think it's a great idea. A scary idea, but...I can't think of anyone else I'd want to do something big and scary like living in another galaxy or--"

Sucking on her neck just below her ear, John made her moan and left off the rest of his thought.

"Having a baby with you," she finished.

He nodded, pulling off his t-shirt. "Besides, I hear we need to lower the odds by having a lot of sex."

Undoing the catch of his trousers, Elizabeth smiled sagely. "And you're all for having a lot of sex."

"With you?" He beamed. "Always."

== The End ==


End file.
